Dear little Will...

Dear Will,

It sounds funny to actually call you "Will" because I typically call you "little man", or "sweet boy", but since this is a letter I will give you when you grow up, I will address you as Will:)  You are going to be SIX months old on Friday so I wanted to write you your first letter to summarize how special the last six months have been.  Will, you entered our lives on May 30th...three days after your "due date".  I kept praying you would come on your own, but you had your own agenda and you wanted to stay inside me as long as you could!  I did not want to be induced, but Dr Chwe recommended we go ahead and schedule an inducement because he does not like for his patients to go past 41 weeks.  Your daddy and I went to the hospital early that Wednesday morning and they started me on petosin.  I was 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced when we arrived, so I was hopeful that it wouldn't take long to see your precious face.  You and I had our ups and downs along the way because my blood pressure kept dropping and they were losing your heartbeat at times.  They started me on lots of fluids to help my blood pressure and we switched positions quite a lot to keep "finding" you.  By mid afternoon everything was looking good and around 4:30 I was able to start pushing!  The waiting room was full of family and friends waiting for you to get here-Your grandparents, Uncle David and Aunt Allison, Uncle Scott and Aunt Anna, Marshall and Mary Claire, Drew, Jessica, Lindsay and Maggie.  You were loved by so many before you even arrived!!!  I pushed for an hour and a half, but we didn't make much progress, so Dr. Chwe informed me that we were going to have to consider a c-section.  Now, Mommy did not want this, so I asked Dr. Chwe for more time.  You see, your Mommy is very stubborn and I did not want to give up!  Dr. Chwe told me he would give me 30 more minutes to try.  I gave it all I had, and then they lost your heart rate again...and could not find it.  The nurses called Dr. Chwe and everyone went into high gear mode preparing us for a c-section.  I cried(of course), but the whole time I knew God was in control, and that He already knew this was going to happen.  I got wheeled down the hall, with your daddy by my side, and we passed a line of family and friends smiling...which only made Mommy cry harder!!!  My epidural was no longer working, so Dr. Rock(the nicest man in the world) gave me a spinal to ensure I wouldn't feel anything.  They transferred me to the surgery table and I cannot tell you how anxious I was to get you out and see you!!!  Within minutes, you were out and Dr. Chwe informed me that the umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around your neck and that is why I couldn't push hard enough to get you out.  

They came around the table and I got to see you for the first time and kiss your precious head.  

You were the most beautiful little thing I had ever seen and it was truly love at first sight.  You were 7 lb 15 oz of pure joy!  So that is how you got here, and since you have been here you have blessed our lives in ways I didn't know possible!  I am going to try and summarize the last 6 months...

You were a terrible eater at first, but now you don't stop!:)  We had to take you to the hospital for weigh-ins the first week, because you had lost weight and they were worried about you.  Now, you weigh 19 pounds and have some adorable chunky thighs!  You have always been very alert...your Neeno called you precocious from the day you were born.  You started life as a bad napper, and that hasn't changed much.  You have always loved sleeping in your swing and this is your Daddy's "go to" when nothing else soothes you.  Daddy has always been the best at getting you to eat.  This was true when you were weeks old...and is now true as you begin eating solid foods.  I think Daddy is a lot more patient than mommy:)  You broke free from every swaddle blanket we owned...your daddy called you Houdini.  You would fight and fight until you got your arms free...and you always did!  You loved to be rocked from day one and daddy loves to sing made up songs to you while he rocks you.  Your daddy has quite the talent for rhyming...and it always cracks me up!  One of my personal favorites is, "Gus is sweet, Cheney is mean.  You sleep in a wombie that's green".  Gus and Cheney are your puppy dogs...and the "wombie" was the last swaddle style blanket that we invested in:)  You love lights and could literally stare at them for hours.  You love being outside and it has always soothed you.  When you were just a few weeks old, you would be screaming crying and we would take you outside and immediately you stopped.  We have always joked that there is something magical about the sun!  You love going for walks in your stroller and we do this a lot!!!  You have spent the most time taking strolls with your buddy Ashley Jernigan...and her mommy and I joke that y'all are boyfriend and girlfriend:)  The first thing I noticed about you was your adorable little rosebud lips...that you love to purse.  You have the sweetest little dimple in your chin, like your daddy...and I love it!  You have huge blue eyes and a head full of hair.  Everyone told me your hair would fall out, but it never did and I am so thankful it didn't!  You love to kick and this started in the womb.  I had bruised ribs for the latter part of the pregnancy and my rib pain was about the only thing that bothered me the entire pregnancy.  You kick the most on your changing table...and it makes it quite difficult to get your diaper on right!  You have the most kissable cheeks in the world and strangers in Target will ask if they can touch them!  Too funny!  

You love people and you love to be talked to.  You are happiest when someone is holding you and someone is talking to you:)  I wonder where you got your sociable nature???:)  

The first time you laughed, it was at your daddy's turkey gobble.  The first time you screamed out in fear was at your daddy's elephant noise.  You wake up so happy...and this is our favorite time with you.  You're almost 6 months old, but you are already wearing 9 month clothes(primarily for the length).  You went to the church nursery for the first time around 8 weeks...and "Ms. Irene" loves to rock you.  You have always sneezed a lot and when you were tiny, you would throw your arms up in the air with every sneeze.  I have to confess that Daddy and I loved to watch you sneeze and it tickled us so much to see your whole body sneeze!  I could write a novel about you Will, but mostly I want you to know how very loved you are.  In your room there is a painting that says, "we loved you before you were born"...and this is so true.  

Will, you are truly a gift from God and one that your daddy and I will treasure, love and protect.  Thank you little man for blessing our lives in ALL the ways that you have.  Love, Mommy

Half a year old...already?!

It is so very hard to believe that Will will be 6 months old on Friday.  It truly seems like yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital...excited and nervous first-time parents.  The one piece of advice that was always a constant among those around us was, "enjoy it, they grow up too fast".  I didn't really understand that until now...and even now, I have only a small glimpse into what that means. It is so tricky as a parent because you are always anticipating that next milestone, and before you know it you've missed the current milestone.  When they're a newborn, you're anticipating their first smile...or watching for them to roll over.  When they roll over, you begin waiting them for them to sit up...and so on and so on.  

Over the past six months, I have had to figure out A LOT and I am thankful for all of those who have helped me along the way.  I am going to list a few of the things I have learned, realized, or discovered (post Will) that may help any new moms out there (or soon-to-be moms). To my friends who are expecting-hope this helps in some small way.  Just remember, if I can do this...ANYONE can!:)

1.  Cherish every moment with your little one.  It sounds so simple, but it is so true.  As a new mom, I was completely overwhelmed by the idea of a schedule.  I think I spent too much time worrying about when he was suppose to eat, sleep, and play that I missed some precious moments of enjoying him sleeping, eating and playing.  I am a VERY scheduled person, but Will has taught me so much about letting go of routine and being more flexible.  Isn't it amazing how much a baby can teach us about ourselves...and they don't even know they're doing it.  Will has definitely reminded me that I am not in control...and to just look up to the One who is. 

2.  Not all advice is good advice. Take others advice for what it is, advice...not the gospel.  As a new mom, you will get LOTS of unsolicited "advice" and you have to decide what is helpful, relevant, and what actually makes sense for you and your little one. On the flip side of that...don't be afraid to ask for advice.  I think sometimes we fear that by asking others questions that we may come across as though we don't know what we are doing...but the truth is, the person you are asking, probably asked someone the same questions when they were a new mom:)  I actually had to ask a friend how you put the car seat in the grocery cart, because I was scared of looking like an idiot at the store!!!  As a new mom, there is no such thing as a "dumb question".  

3. Plan for explosive diapers when you are going somewhere.  I have learned that it is almost inevitable that Will will have the worst diapers when we arrive somewhere.  This typically means that whatever adorable outfit I had him dressed in, is now soiled and we have to have a wardrobe change in the back of the Yukon.  I would encourage all new mommies to have a blanket, that washes easily, stored in the back of the car-in case you need an area to give a babywipe bath:)  Publix grocery sacks are my best friend.  I always have a handful ready to go for dirty diapers, outfits, etc.  In case anyone thinks that I am not "green" when they see me leaving the grocery store with all of my groceries in plastic bags and no reusable grocery bags, it's because I am recycling my bags in other ways...so don't judge me.

4.  Hot flashes in the first few weeks, postpartum, are normal and awful.  If you wake up in a pool of your own sweat...don't panic, it's completely normal. Nobody told me this, so I thought I had some terrible post-pregnancy infection that was causing high fever. Stupid, I know...but honest:)

5.  Let your husband help...and praise him when he does.  If you are lucky enough to have a husband who wants to help out and be a part of your little one's care, then let him.  I think it is very easy for Moms to fall into the mindset of being "super mom", but it will most likely result in "sleepy mom".  Parenting is a two person job, so involve dad as much as possible.  I had a friend remind me of this while I was pregnant and I am thankful she did.  She shared with me that she was always hesitant to let her husband help because he didn't always do it the way she did.  She soon realized that she resented him not helping, but knew it was her own  fault that he wasn't, because she had isolated him by making him feel like she didn't want, or need, his help.  I am thankful for honest friends who shared their experiences with me.  

6.  If you feel like you don't know what you're doing...that's normal:)  Any new mom who tells you she knew exactly what she was doing is lying.  There will be times in the first few weeks that you will be so tired and so hormonal, that you will just cry.  You will feel like you can't control your emotions and the tears will come out of nowhere.  There was a day, in the first 2 weeks, when we had a room full of company and I felt the tears coming.  By tears, I don't mean watery eyes...I mean full-blown Steel Magnolias style tears.  I had to walk out of the room, go to the bathroom and get myself together.  It is funny now, but at the time, I felt crazy...and nobody likes to feel crazy!

7.  Have frozen dinners tucked away in the freezer for when you are having "one of those days".  Believe me when I tell you that it will be like Christmas when you open the freezer and have a meal to throw in the oven...when you've had a no good, horrible, very bad day.  I have gotten in the routine of having a cooking day to make 5-7 meals that I can freeze.  This is also wonderful to have in case you need to take a meal to someone else:)  

8.  Don't be afraid to rock your baby to sleep.  There is a lot of literature out there that discourages rocking your baby because then they never learn to "self soothe".  I understand the need for your little one to learn how to put themselves back to sleep, however there will be times when they just need a little help:)  I am thankful that I threw those books out the window and now have so many precious memories of rocking Will...sometimes rocking myself to sleep in the process!:)  I have never met a grandmother that did not rock their baby...so if it worked for the generations before us, it can't be all bad!  

9.  Make "mommy friends" with moms who have little ones around the same age as your little one.  I had no idea what a blessing it would be to have other moms as a source of knowledge and encouragement.  

10.  Take time for yourself and take time for your marriage.  Let your family and friends babysit so you can have a date night with your husband.  I think babies are a lot like dogs, in that they have no concept of time...so when you return, they won't even know you were gone:)  

11.  Journal!!!  This is something I wish I was better at, and part of the reason I now have a blog!  I have several friends who write letters to their little ones...and I love this!!!  I am going to start this week, but I hate that I missed out writing to Will the first 5 months!  

12.  Baby weight does not "fall off" everyone, so don't be discouraged when your weight "falls on" for longer than you expected, and longer than you wanted.  Baby weight is a lot like the house guest that comes and doesn't know when to leave.  A good friend reminded me that it takes 9 months to put the weight on, so it will take 9 months to get the weight off.  I am 4 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight...and it has taken a lot of work to get off what I have.  The other thing I have discovered is that my clothes do not fit the same...and I am not sure they ever will again, but I am going to keep trying!!!  LOL. 

So I realize this list could go on and on...but the final advice I have is to pray for your child!!!  This is listed last, because it has been the most important for me.  I have always had an active prayer life, and have always understood the power and purpose of prayer...but as a mom, I have come to realize the need for prayer even more.  The minute we found out we were pregnant, worry entered into my mind and heart.  I know that worry does not come from God, so I wanted to get rid of it.  The only way to not worry constantly about this precious gift you have been given, is to talk to the Lord and remind yourself that He knows every hair on your little one's head.  He is in control and He has a plan...and we must trust in His plan.  His plan does not include worry, but rather total reliance on Him. This is something I have struggled with more as a mom, than I ever did before.  A child brings more things to think about, which opens the door to more things to worry about...but ultimately this means more things to pray about!:) 
I did not intend for this to get so lengthy, but maybe there is some tidbit within my rambling that can help someone along the way:)

Turkey Day!!!

Thanksgiving is tomorrow so Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I have just finished making a buttermilk chess pie, an apple pie, and a corn casserole to take to Cullen's parents' house tomorrow.  I love baking-especially while Hallmark is showing Christmas movies!!!  Hallmark movies should have a disclaimer:  Our movies are 100% effective in making individuals cry.

I must say that this Thanksgiving means even more to me, as I celebrate my first Thanksgiving as a Mommy.  I truly cannot put into words how thankful I am that Will came into our lives almost 6 months ago (technically 15 months ago!)  He is truly the joy of my heart!  I am overwhelmed with gratitude that the Lord blessed us with such a precious, healthy little boy.  I feel like Will has given me an entirely new understanding of Christ's love for us...and what true unconditional love is.  Will has made me even more aware of how undeserving we all are as believers, but yet grace enters in and our God blesses us for His glory.  I am in awe of this!!!  It is absolutely remarkable how perfect Will is and how loving my God is to have created him this way.  It is the same awestruck feeling I have when I look at Cullen.  Cullen is the man I prayed for and waited for and seeing him as a daddy has made me even more thankful for who he is.  I love that Cullen is usually the one who gets up early with Will, so he can have some "daddy time" before he goes to work.  I love that I find him upstairs watching Will sleep and saying goodnight, when he gets home after Will has already gone to sleep.  I love that Cullen is the only one who can get Will to eat all of his oatmeal:)  Most of all, I just love seeing my guys together...two reasons to be thankful everyday!!!  

1 Timothy 4:4-5

"For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer".

These are a few of my favorite things...

Okay, so just by naming my blog post, I am now humming "raindrops on roses".  Dang that Sound of Music!  For anyone else now humming it, I apologize:)  To say I had a wonderful weekend is an understatement...I had an almost perfect weekend because it was full of a few of my favorite things.  Family, friends, football, and perfect fall weather.  On Friday, my brother, David, arranged to take my dad (a HUGE Alabama fan) to "Nick at noon".  To those of you reading who may not follow football, and more specifically Alabama football, Nick Saban is the head coach for the greatest team in the nation...The Alabama Crimson Tide.  In the South, our culture tends to focus around college football...especially in the fall.  In the great state of Alabama, we live for our respective teams (Alabama and Auburn).  From the time you are born, you are "marked" with an Alabama or Auburn cap, onesie, pacifier, etc....something to claim you for one side or the other.  I am an overly passionate Alabama fan and I come from a long line of Alabama fans...so it is definitely a family tradition.  My grandfather was Coach Bear Bryant's dentist, so my dad came to know Coach Bryant on a personal level through my grandfather.  My dad had never been to the Bear Bryant Museum in Tuscaloosa, so my brother and I planned a day of Alabama football fun for my dad, as an early Christmas present.  We began the day at the museum and what a joy it was to see my dad reminisce about old football games,  players, etc.  I watched my dad fight back tears a couple of times, as he retold the plays and how Alabama won some of their most memorable victories.  While I know my dad loves Alabama football, I think the tears were related more to what memories those games represented...memories of my grandfather, who is now deceased.  I realized that football is about a lot more than football.  It is an event that not only brings our state together, but also families and friends...and football is the center of a lot of precious memories.  We left the museum and went to Bryant-Denny Stadium for a private tour of the stadium.  For those who know me and understand how much I LOVE Alabama football, you know how excited this made me!:)  My bucket list includes, "run out with the team at an Alabama game"...so to be that close to the locker room may be as close as I ever get!  Ha!

 This is the press room where Coach Saban gives his post-game interviews...I couldn't resist getting my picture made:)

This is the sign outside of the visiting team's locker room.  Apparently Mr. James Fail donated enough money to name the locker room after himself...and how brilliant was that?!  I love that the visiting teams' locker room is named "The Fail Room"...and that is precisely what we hope that they do when they come to Bryant-Denny Stadium.  After the tour, my brother and my dad went on to "Nick at noon" where they heard Coach Saban speak and had lunch.  I did not make this trip because I had little Will and wasn't sure how he would do and worried Coach Saban would yell at him if he cried out of turn...

Friday afternoon, my amazing friend Jessica came to the house to take some pictures of Will and our little family!  She is learning photography and I love that she likes to practice on us!!!:)  She lives in Birmingham, so it was a wonderful way to end the day...getting to spend time with her.  Here is some of her work-

 LOVE these!

And that's our little nugget!  I found the sock monkey hat at "Christmas Village" in Birmingham and HAD to have it!  

Saturday my sweet husband and I took Will and we went to Trade Days at Tannehill State Park.  I had not been to this event since I was a child and Cullen had never been before, so neither of us knew what to expect.  As we drove into the park, I realized we have been missing out by not going out there more.  It is beautiful and so many beautiful photo opps!!!  We drove over the hill, after paying to park, and we saw tent after tent after tent.  Apparently while I was getting bigger, so was Trade Days-it was way bigger than I remembered as a child.  We shopped around and Cullen found great deals on tools and "guy things" and I found this frame!

The frame was only $20.  I didn't think that was bad at all!  My general rule of thumb is this.  Can I make it for less than that?  If the answer is no, then I buy it!:)  So, would we go back to Trade Days?  Most definitely!  

Saturday night we sat down to watch the Kansas State/Baylor game and also the Oregon/Stanford game.  Alabama had recently dropped in the BCS rankings after their loss to Texas A&M, the week prior. Alabama dropped from #1 in the polls to #4.  The teams in front of us (and yes, we say "us" in the South when referring our respective teams): Kansas State, Oregon and Notre Dame.  Alabama fans needed Baylor to beat K. State and Stanford to beat Oregon, to get Alabama back in the running for a National Championship (their 15th to be exact).  Cullen and I, along with every other Bama fan in the country, watched and cheered as both of these very things happened!!!  It was truly and incredible night for college football and especially for Alabama.  

On Sunday, my super awesome mom came into town for a friend's Christmas Party.  How fun it was to start my weekend early with a visit from my dad and brother and to end my weekend with a visit from my mom.  It was truly a great weekend to kickoff the week of Thanksgiving!  It is so important to consider ALL of the ways the Lord has blessed our lives...and to make time for all of those blessings.  I am thankful to have spent the weekend with so many of the people I love.  God is good...all the time.  All the time...God is good.  

I'm dreaming of a bubbly candle Christmas...

So, I just finished wrapping all of our Christmas gifts and only have 4 left to buy-all of which are gift cards!  Yay!  My goal is always to finish my shopping early, so that I can ENJOY Christmas!  As I was wrapping presents, I began thinking about this time last  year and how much can happen in a year.  This time last year I was pregnant and we were only weeks away from finding out what we were having.  I remember having so much anticipation as I wondered if it was a boy or a girl!!!  The Christmas before last, we were one day into our engagement.  It is truly awesome how great our God is and how much He blesses us from year to year.  For those of you who don't know me, Christmas is my most favorite time of the year (college football is a close second of course).  I am somewhat of a fanatic, but I came by it honestly, as my mom is about 10 steps above fanatic.  I guess you could say that Christmas is in my genes:)

As a child, I always got so excited when Christmas was approaching...and in large part because my mom was so excited.  She made Christmas extra fun by decorating everything that didn't have a pulse in our home.  Every single Christmas item had it's own perfect spot in our home, and we all got quite good at knowing where that perfect spot was.  My favorite decorating activity was decorating the "den tree".  You may ask, why do I have to differentiate?  Well, that is because my mom put up five trees.  Yes, you read right...FIVE trees.  If that doesn't sound like a lot of trees...please understand that our home was far from a monstrosity of a home.  The "den tree" was basically the family tree.  It was full of ornaments that had been given to each of us, our handmade ornaments and ornaments that we had picked out.  It was also home to the lights with the bubbling candles.  Does anyone else remember these???  They were truly my favorite!  I think I grieved when they finally stopped working and we no longer hung them on the tree.  

My sweet Mom and Dad gave my two older brothers and I an ornament every year of our life-and they wrote on the bottom of the ornament our name and the year it was given (in Sharpie of course!)  When each of us got our own homes, they gave us our box of ornaments to have for our own tree.  I plan on doing this for Will-and have gone a little overboard with this being his first Christmas!-ha.  I also want to continue a tradition that Cullen and I have started of going to the Alabama Theater in Birmingham to see "It's a Wonderful Life".  If you have never been to the theater...you must go.  It is extremely fun and old-fashioned and it is even more fun at Christmas.  If you have never seen "It's a Wonderful Life", then crawl out of the hole in which you live and watch it!  There is really nothing that gets me more in the Christmas spirit than singing Christmas carols with a theater full of strangers, eating popcorn and hearing Jimmy Stewart say, "That a boy Clarence".  Christmas traditions start early and my prayer is that I never let the stress of Christmas take away from creating memories for our children...ones they will cherish.

Love me some George Bailey!!!

After much deliberation, I've decided to start a blog.  I think I was under the impression that to have a blog, you had to have something specific to blog about...or have "expertise" in something. What I determined is that is not the case at all...as a matter of fact, the best blogs I have read are the ones that are just honest and real. That is what I will be blogging about...my real life, in an honest way.  I want to provide a forum for other moms out there-to learn from my failures, successes, and my mistakes.  To have a way to tell others what recipes on Pinterest to avoid and which ones to actually put on a recipe card.  I want to share my super cheap deals...and my not so super cheap splurges!  I want to share about my faith...and how much I love my Savior!!!  Warning:  There are going to be Bible verses.  There are going to be baby pictures.  There are going to be "Southernisms".  There will probably be mention of Alabama football.  Soooo, if any of the above offend you-don't read:)  Anyhoo, happy reading!!!